


Voiceless

by Tess (TekieScythe)



Category: zombies - Fandom
Genre: Character Death, Mudo, Original Character(s), Original Story - Freeform, POV Female Character, Zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-12
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-01-08 10:08:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1131376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TekieScythe/pseuds/Tess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My name is Tess. I want to tell you a story about my own personally hell that, given the circumstances, became a small piece of corrupted paradise. We had to make choices that any teenager should never have had to make. Every day was insane, but we always had fun. If we had to do it again, I would change a few things, but not much. Now, let me tell you the story of how I died.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Real Me

**Author's Note:**

> I one day want to try having this published so please, at the end, tell me how I did. And tell me how I can improve.

Chapter 1: This is the Real Me  
My name is Tess. I want to tell you a story about my own personally hell that, given the circumstances, became a small piece of corrupted paradise. We had to make choices that any teenager should never have had to make. Every day was insane, but we always had fun. If we had to do it again, I would change a few things, but not much. Now, let me tell you the story of how I died.  
We really weren’t even sure what was going on at first. My family was having a cookout with my best friend, Rem’s, family. Rem and I were eating Ice cream sandwiches when we heard a scream and looked up. At first we thought a drunken man had stumbled in and scared Rem’s mother. Then I saw why she screamed. My father was on the ground holding his neck. It was then that I understood, but before I could react; my brother was on top of the drunken fool. I thought he was going to beat him to death by the way he was punching him, but the drunken man just swung his arm, throwing my brother way from him. He stumbled backwards, tripped, hit the fence, and passed out. By this point, my father stopped moving.  
Rem’s mother screamed again, more and more “drunken fools” started pouring in. My mother screamed for us to run, just before a woman bit into her neck, silencing her forever.  
I grabbed Rem's hand and took off towards the house, grabbing the tongs as I ran. My father was the only one to stumble in front of me. He looked just like the rest of the “drunken fools.” I dropped kicked him, breaking his neck, pulled Rem into the house, and locked the door.  
“Rem! Run to my room and grab some clothes, we have to go!” She was shaking her head, shivering all the while.  
“What the hell is going on!?”  
“Look, I don’t know, but we have to leave!”  
“They’re acting like zombies! You’re the horror expert; tell me they are NOT acting like zombies!”  
“Go Get Some Clothes! Now!” She flinched at my yelling, but nodded and ran upstairs. I started running around, locking doors, windows, shutting shutters when possible, and collecting water bottles and fruit bars. I filled a small, portable cooler and went to my dad’s study. He has a pistol in one of the drawers that he still thinks I don’t know about. I pulled out my knife from my boot when I heard Rem scream. I ran upstairs to get Rem, but I found my little brother standing in front of my closet. “Haden, are you okay?” He turned to look at me. That was all it took for me to want to break down in tears. Half his cheek was gone. It made him look like he was smiling and crying on one side.  
“Tess, please help!” Rem was in the closet, starting to sob uncontrollably. Haden started to stagger in my direction. I pulled out the gun.  
“Rem, cover your ears, okay?”  
“What are you going to do!?”  
“I SAID COVER YOUR EARS!” I raised the gun and blew a hole in his head. Rem screamed, and I fell to my knees. My head dropped as tears spilled. Forcing myself up, but keeping my head down, I walked over the body of my brother to the closet where my best friend was hiding. I knocked softly, and she started sobbing again.  
“Cover him up. I don’t want to remember him like that!” I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. I covered him with my favorite blanket, kissing the side of his face still intact.  
“You can come out now, he’s sleeping.” The door opened slowly and her tear stained face came into view. “Did you get the clothes? We need to leave now, and I have to lock the door. I don’t want any of those monsters waking him up.”  
“Yeah.” She nodded and bent down to Haden. “Goodnight, Sweetie, have a nice rest.” We both stood up, and left the room, double checking to make sure the door was locked. Downstairs, my only other bother Darren was stumbling around, holding his arm. He looked up to us, face full of pain.  
“Tess, what’s going on? Where’s Haden? He was in the house! We have to go find him!” I shook my head, but he didn’t understand. We may be similar, but we were never all that close. “Where is he!?” I just kept shaking my head. Rem spoke up for me.  
“Darren, Haden’s not, uh, he’s, uh.”  
“He’s dead. Haden’s dead. I shot him.” Darren’s eyes widened as he slowly backed up.  
“Why did you shoot our little brother!?”  
“For the same reason I’ll have to shoot you. See that bite on your arm. That is the same as him. You were bitten, weren’t you?” He kept backing up, shaking his head. I started to advance him. “I will not allow my brother to become those monsters. I. Will. Not.” I raised my gun, aiming for his head.  
“You can’t just shoot me!” His voice was border-line hysterical, which is completely understandable, considering I just said I was going to kill him.  
“Tess! What the hell are you doing?!” She grabbed my arm and lowered it. “He’s your brother!”  
“I’m not letting them walk around killing people!” Rem shook her head.  
“He’s still alive-” Darren clasped to the floor, crying out. Rem stepped forward, towards him, but I yanked her back. “What are you doing? He needs help!”  
“Just look at him! He’s as good as dead at this point! If this is just like a zombie movie, once he’s bitten, he’s dead! Don’t go near him!”  
“Tess, it hurts.” I stepped forward, and knelt in front of him.  
“I know. I know it hurts, but you’re going to die and the most I can do is put you down before you go through more pain. I’m sorry.” Tears started to well up in his eyes. “You’ll be with Haden, so please forgive me.” He looked me right in the eyes, shivers going right through his body. He nodded once and closed his eyes.  
“Keep Rem safe, okay?”  
“I will, I promise.” I placed the gun under his chin, trying to preserve as much of his face as I could. He let out a small grown and I fired, blowing off the back of his head. Rem yelped and took at step back, covering her eyes to the sight.  
“Couldn’t you have locked him in his room? You wouldn’t have had to shoot him then.” I shook my head.  
“Then I would still have to worry of him getting out and hurting people. I don’t need to worry with them dead like this.” She nodded. At this point she looked like she was going to be sick. “Let’s get the keys and get out of here. I don’t want to kill another family member. I don’t like the fact that it’s getting easier.” She nodded and we headed for the side door garage.  
The first thing I did when I entered the garage is the first thing nobody does in horror movies. I checked the underside of the car FIRST. No way was I going to let somebody pull me under. Nobody was under there, so I checked inside, empty as well.  
“Get in; I have to open the doors.” Rem got shotgun, and I went to the keypad. I punched in the code, hit enter, and took off like a bat out of hell. I jumped into the truck, turned it on, and waited.  
People started pouring in as the door went up. “This is going to be bumpy, huh?” Rem slapped my arm, eyes wide. “The hell!”  
“Could you at least act like you’re not enjoying yourself?!” I locked the doors as soon as they came too close for my liking. “Oh my god, your mom.” My mother was standing in the middle of the driveway; half of her neck was gone, staring at us. “She’s dead, isn’t she?” I nodded. “Are you going to…?” I nodded again. “Please don’t.”  
“I’m not leaving them to walk around killing people. It’s not happening.” She nodded, and started to curl up.  
“If you’re going to do it, I’m not watching.” She covered her face in her knees as I shifted into Low gear, hit the gas, and dropped it into Drive. I hit her going sixty, so she kind of flew into the air above the truck along with many other. I pulled the E-brake, drifting the truck into the street. She hit the ground with a sickening crunch. Either she was completely dead, or wasn’t going anywhere.  
I started to feel sick when another woman stumbled towards her. It was Rem’s mother. “Keep your head down; you don’t need to see this.” She glanced at me as her mother dropped to her knees in front of mine.  
“See what, exactly?” She looked forward, not knowing what I was referring to. I slapped my hand across her eyes just before she turned her head to far and saw her own mother.  
“You really don’t need to know.” I forced her head back between her knees, returned the e-break to its original position, and drove off, trying to expel the image of Rem’s mother eating a piece of mine.  
“Tess, where are we going to go?” I sighed and shook my head.  
“I don’t know, but I don’t have my phone, do you?” She nodded. “Call 911, and if you don’t get an answer keep calling.”  
“Tess, this isn’t going to end well.” I nodded my head, even though she wasn’t really asking a question.


	2. Death is just the start of new beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No Summary.

Chapter 2: Death is just the start of new beginnings  
We’ve been driving for hours and the surrounding area was just as bad as I thought. Bodies dead and alive were running or walking around. Rem kept begging I stop and let someone “alive” in, but if they got in the way of the truck, I ran them over. Soon she stopped asking, and started yelling at people to get out of the way. I started trying to avoid running people over so she was as calm as possible.  
“Tess, I can’t get a hold of anyone. Do you want me to keep calling?” I shook my head.  
“No, this is probably happening all over the city, so I wanna turn on the radio. Turn off your phone. We don’t know when we might need it.” Rem gave a curt nod, turned off the phone, and turned the radio on.  
“-advised to stay indoors… This is an emergency broadcast. The infection spreads via biting. All persons are to stay clear of condensed public areas. It is advised to stay indoors… This is an emergency broadcast. The infect- *static* Hello? *Mumbling* It’s on? Finally, we’ve been trying to take control before the infection spread too far. We want all uninfected people to make their way to West Manhattan to the abandoned buildings. We have emergence supplies and housing for anyone we can help. Do your best to make it here. There are zombies walking around, so be careful! Repeat: We want all uninfected-” I parked the car, turned off the radio, and sat back.  
Rem started laughing, “Oh that’s just great! How in the hell are we supposed to get there?!”  
“Well, we could drive.” She sent me a glare. “It’s only twenty minutes away.” A zombie pressed up against my window door causing Rem to jump. “We’ll see how bad it is and if we can’t make it there, we’ll stock up on some weapons.” Her eyebrow rose, and she quieted down.  
“Fine, let’s go, and stop calling them zombies, it gives me the willies.” I nodded and she sat back as I put the car back in drive. “And can you at least act like it frightens you. It hit the window and you didn't even flinch. Seriously, sometimes I just think you’re crazy.” I said nothing; just let a smile crawl across my face.  
We decided that calling them “zombies” was to “Mainstream,” so we started calling them “Mudo.” According to Rem, mudo is what her favorite author calls zombies.  
“I think we could make it.” Rem’s head swung so fast I thought she was going to give herself whiplash.  
“Are you crazy? Don’t smile. They’re walking around everywhere! How do you expect us to make it?”  
“Look at the building.” The building was four stories high with people walking along the roof. One of the people were waving at us, pointing us out to the others. The doors were French double doors, partly held close by a board. “With enough speed I could back the truck into the doors. It would seal the entrance and we could crawl through the back window, less to fear. We could make it.” She sighed, dropping her head into her hand.  
“Can you do me a favor?” I nodded, “Can you stop saying ‘could’? Say ‘will’ or something. You’re making it sound like this isn’t the most dangerous thing we have ever done.” Waving at the roof of the building caught our attention. I hit the horn and they started scrambling out of sight. “I guess that means they’re going to help?”  
I revved the engine, allowing another smile to grace my lips. “Well, then let’s make an entrance they won’t forget.” I hit the gas, slamming bodies out of the way as I went. Nearing the double doors, I ripped back on the e-break, pulled the wheel to the side, forcing a hard left, tipping the truck to the side as it drifted into place. Switching the gears to reverse and punched the gas, my truck slammed right through the doors, pinning itself in the entrance. The sudden stop caused us to harshly rock forward. My head slammed against the wheel. I shook it off and check Rem.  
“Tess! You alight?!” She grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to herself, which, by the way, hurt. Moved me too fast, you know? “You’re bleeding, but I think you’re fine.”  
“Good, we have to move. I don’t know if they can get in.” I forced myself out of my chair and pushed open the small back window. “I’ll go first, follow as soon as I’m out, got it?” Rem nodded her head and I climbed out. A mudo tried to grab me as soon as my foot hit the bed of the truck. I pistol whipped it in the forehead. I could hear people shouting from above my head and in front of me. The mudo were also making noises, but it’s not like anything I’ve ever heard. Rem scrambled out, dipping so she could get under the door.  
“Do we just make a run for it?” She kept slapping hands as they reached for her.  
“Yeah, but we really should have grabbed a bat.”  
“On the count of three?” I nodded. She held up her fingers, counting down. The last finger dropped and we took off. I shot three mudo at the end of the trucks bed, kicking one, as we jumped over them.  
The room was covered in blood, half eaten corpses displayed lying on the ground or against a wall, and the smell was horrid. The mudo were screeched and wailed as we ran past. They were on all sides as I was shooting them.  
“Over here!! Over here!! Run this way!!” On the farthest side was an opening where several people were waving us over. I pushed Rem towards them while throwing off as many as I could. The people above started shooting mudo from behind, careful not to shoot us. A mudo grabbed Rem’s shoulders attempting to bite at her face. She was holding it back, but it was getting closer and closer with each snap of its jaws.  
“Rem!” I let out two shots and the mudo when down. Then I heard the dreaded pang of an empty clip just as one of the monsters grab the back of my arm. I shouted at it and tried to hit it with the back of my gun, but it was futile. It sank it’s teach into my neck. A soldier then proceeded to blow its head off. Rem shouted again at me, then at the mudo who grabbed her. I figured since I was already infected I wasn’t going to hold back. I threw my fist right into its jaw.  
I pulled Rem through mass of the undead, completely ignoring the ones who were biting me, but making sure none touched her. When we got to the opening, I kept swinging at the mudo. “Grab her already! Get her out of here!” Rem shouted as the back of her shirt was grabbed, pulling her away. I pulled out my knife and started slicing at their necks. Pain started to radiate from my bite marks, and I started coughing up blood.  
“Please! Don’t let them eat her!” Next thing I know, I’m on the ground with Rem holding my face. “This can’t be happening; you promised we would make it.” I smile as more blood slipped down my face from my mouth.  
“At least… You did.” Pain erupts from every injury, old and new, scars, cuts or bites. I screamed with pure agony.  
My body felt like I was being engulfed in flames. I could barely hear myself say, “Not yet!” Rem was crying, but there was no way I was going to give up. As soon as I stopped screaming, I was cussing. I saw a teen take her young sister away. I would have laughed if I could. A pain exploded from my neck and spread up and down my spine. The pain caused me to let out a mudo’s inhuman wail, scaring Rem.  
“We can’t keep her here!” A boy with flaming red hair and green eyes, said to Rem, trying to pull her away. She screamed at him to let her go and I reacted. I jumped at him forcing his to release her and back up. “She’s changing! Why won’t anyone shoot her?!”  
My breathing picked up and started coming out harsher and harsher. I grabbed hold or Rem’s hand as shivers started coursing through my body.  
“Please, please don’t die.” Rem picked me up and pulled me against her chest. “You have to be okay, you can’t leave me here!” She was sobbing quite hard, making her heart beat quiet rapid. I closed my eyes to focus on the beat and her heart rate sped up. “No, no, no, don’t fall asleep!”  
“Ma’am, you have to get away from her, she’s going to change.” I shook my head, whispering out, ‘no.’ I opened my eyes to look at him. He was tall, blond hair, blue eyes, which widened when I looked at him. “You have to get away from her now! She’s already changing!” I clung to her when he tried to pull her away. I was afraid if I let her go, I would completely lose myself.  
“Then you can shoot her after she bites me! I’m not letting her die alone!” I shook my head again, but couldn’t get anything to come out my throat. I bit down lip, whining when I bit through it.  
My head started to swim, black spots began to dance in front of my eyes, and I felt like someone was squeezing my lungs. I held on tighter and tighter, crying and shivering at ever wave of pain that washed over me. Black spots covered almost all of my eye sight. I could hear my whining turn to moaning. Out of a desperate attempt to say good bye, I rubbed my head against her shoulder. She reached up and started patting my head, pulling me closer as my heart stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me how you think!


	3. Oh Hell No

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No Summery

Chapter 3: Oh Hell No  
I felt like I was floating. The ground was gone and everything was black. All I could see was this small red string. I reached over and grabbed it, ripping my hand way as soon as I touched it. It hurt, but I had this weird feeling that if I didn’t grab it someone would be sad. I grabbed it again, ignoring the pain, and pulled. Light erupted from way above the sting and the darkness was gone, along with my consciousness.   
Slowly, I blink my eyes open. People were running around me, making everything blurry and muffled. Of whose faces I did see, they looked panicked. I started getting worried that something was wrong. I looked up at Rem and she was crying. I reached up to pet her face and her crying became sobbing. I tilted my head and pulled her down to me, her sobbing got worse. I hugged her, trying to help her stop. The noise blasted around us, shouts hurt my ears, but I just wanted to make sure she was okay. After a minute she stopped sobbing and I let her go. The noise around me quieted down considerably. Whispers that I could barely hear sprouted up from different areas around me.  
“Why did she let go?”  
“She didn’t bite?”  
“What’s going on?”  
“What do we do?”  
“Should we shoot her?”  
“She’s infected right?”  
“Should we get Xao?”   
“Tess? Do you know who I am?” I tilted my head completely confused.   
“…” I tried saying ‘what do you mean,’ but nothing came out. My eyes widened and I tried talking again, still nothing came out. She started crying again, but this time she was smiling. Happy tears, I guess.   
“Just nod your head if you know where we are.” I looked around, at all the strangers holding guns pointed at us. I shook my head and forced myself up, putting myself between her and the guns. I tried yelling at them for pointing a weapon at Rem. It hurt when I moved but I was more afraid of Rem getting hurt.  
“Tess! Don’t spook them.” I kept my eyes fixed on them, ignoring Rem.  
“Look at her eyes! She’s already changed! What the hell is going on here!?” The red head yelled, causing my hands to fly to my ears by the harsh sound. I whined lightly, leaning against Rem, trying to cover more of my ears. “We have to get the monster away from her! Or else well have two zombies on our hands!” I froze, slowly turning to look at him. I started whining again, shaking slightly.  
“Tess, are you okay?” I shook my head, shaking it rapidly. I kept pushing myself closer and closer to Rem. I started freaking out. Tears welled up in my eyes. I turned and buried my head in Rem’s shoulder. After a minute I felt a tap on my shoulder.  
“Hey, why are you crying?” I whipped my head around, shooting him a glare. He was squatting in front of me, hand still held out.  
“Daniel, what do you think you’re doing!?” I whimpered when the red head yelled again.   
“Roger, stop yelling, you’re hurting her ears.”  
“Her? She’s a monster!”  
“But she’s still alive, so shut it!” He picked up a shoe and through it at him. I tried to giggle, but still noting came out.   
“Bastard!” I yelped which seemed to be contagious because everyone jumped, including the blond talking to me. I growled at the red head, Roger, and he started to shake. Something started to smell funny right then. Rem pulled me towards herself. I knew it was her way to stop me from fighting, like she did in school.   
“Miss Tess, do you know what’s going on?” I looked at the blond, Daniel, and nodded. “Do you remember what happened?” I nodded slowly as I remembered the pain in my neck. “Do you feel weird?” I pointed at my neck. “You can’t talk?” I nodded and whined.   
“She can’t talk ‘cause there’s holes in her neck!” My hands flew to the bites, which were just bites, no large holes. Covering the bites with one hand, I started slapping Rem’s leg, panic setting in again.  
“It’s not as bad as you think it is.” I glared at Rem, pointing at my neck.   
“Bad…” Rem eye widened.   
“Tess! You…” I whined lightly. Holding my throat. Tears started prickling in my eyes again. “It hurts?” I nodded furiously. “Then don’t talk for right now, okay?” I nodded again.  
“Hey.” A young man with dark brown hair and eyes, tapped Daniel who was still sitting close to me. “Should we go tell Mr. Young?” There was a collected yeses among the crowd of young adults. So far, I couldn’t see many adults. Daniel nodded and spun around, scanning the crowd several times.  
“Hey, where’s Roger?”   
“He took off when she growled at him.”  
I coughed out, “pissed.” Everyone glanced at me, confusion written on their faces. I pointed at my pants, mouthing ‘pissed’ again. People started laughing.   
“Then stop scaring them!” Rem’s voice was full of her own laughter.   
“Matt, run and get Mr. Young for me.” A tall, skinny boy, with short, light brown hair, nodded and took off running.  
“Hey.” Everyone looked at me again. I pointed at my throat. “Thirsty.” Everyone took a step back, excluding Rem. “Morons.” Rem giggled slightly and pat my head.   
“Be nice.”   
“Don’t wanna.” It was hurting less and less, every time I said something.   
“Tess, you have to be nice.”  
“No, I don’t.”   
“Hey, Tess.” I glanced up at the blond.  
“Daniel.” He nodded.  
“You’re not going to go crazy, right?” I glared at him. “I’ll take that as a no.” I nodded. “Okay, so usually we pull people up who were just infected and throw them out the window when they die.” I cut in, suddenly fearful.  
“I dead… Don’t kill me.” Rem chuckled softly. Slowly, tears started filling her eyes. “Rem, stop cry…ing. I’m fine, see?” I pushed myself off of her front and sat up on my own. This scared some of the young people back, except for Daniel, who didn’t move. “I promised I’d… protect you.” An idiots grin spread across my face.  
“You always have.” Her head dropped, no longer holding eye contact with me. “Even in death, you stand by my side. You always think of me first too. You are-!” She burst into tears again. “-such an idiot! This is all my fault! If I had just watched were I was going! You would not have been hurt! I’m sorry!” I grabbed her and pulled her to myself. Softly petting her, like she did me, but it wasn’t working.  
“Rem, calm down, this… way is better. I’m just like… them, so maybe they… won’t attack me. I’m better equipped… to protect you. I’m still … me, so nothing’s changed.”  
Her crying let up, but she didn’t pull away. “Are you … okay now? Do you want-?” Her head snapped up and she looked mad!  
“You always do that! You get hurt and you check me first! If you had shot that mudo near you first this-!” I sent her a glare.   
“It Was My Choice!” I gripped my neck, staving off tears, while growling out, “Don’t say that again.” I grabbed her shirt and pulled her closer so I could whisper in her ear. “I promised Darren I’d protect you.” I let her go and backed up against the wall. Rem went to speak, but Roger came running in, hair wet, different clothes. He immediately started yelling at me and everyone around him.  
“Her eyes are red! Why won’t anyone shoot her!” Roger snatched up a gun, pointed at me, and –*Screech* Wailing ricocheted throughout the room.   
Four people jumped up and ran to the opening, slamming it shut. Something was banging on it a second later. The four boys were holding it shut as the banging continued. Daniel rushed forward holding a board and sealed it shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me how you think!


	4. That's not Normal at All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No Summery

Chapter 4: That’s not normal at all  
“Open the door! Let me in! I’m hungry~!” You could feel the bloodlust coming off the voice. Shivers ran down my back, and I could even see several other people backing up in fear. I knew something had to be really, really wrong. I pushed myself up again, getting into a charge position.   
“What the hell is that thing?!” Rem scurried way from the hatch and behind me. Shaking harder than Roger did when I growled at him.   
“It’s a zombie like you. He talks as well, but he rips people apart when he gets his hands on them.” Daniel explained, still helping the others keep the hatch shut.   
“Yeah, just like you!” Roger pointed at me accusingly, like I had done something wrong. “We should get rid of you and him!”  
“You’re right, so what about me?” Everyone not watching the hatch looked at me.  
“What do you mean, what about you?” Daniel was watching me intently.  
“I can kill, so couldn’t I kill him? If we’re the same, then couldn’t I kill him?” I was sure that if I could get him before he got up here, I could deal with the problem. If killing parts of my family was easy when I was “human,” then wouldn’t killing a total stranger on a rampage be easy? Apparently, Rem disagreed.   
“Tess, no. There is no way I’m letting you back down there! Look what happened already!”   
“Rem, shut it! If that thing gets in you might get hurt. I’m dead so I might as well do something useful!” Roger snickered at me, and when I growled at him, he only backup.  
“At least you accept it, monster.”  
“That’s Mrs. Monster to you, bitch!” I wanted to laugh at Rem’s outburst, but I heard a sickening crack. Several little fingers poked though the hatch’s door. The voice sent more shivers down my spine.  
“I know you’re in there~!” Daniel and the four boys jumped away, scared. Roger went to shoot at it, but Rem slapped away the gun.  
“You’ll weaken the hatch, you idiot!” Maniacal laughter filled the room and the fingers disappeared. A second later its hand was trusted though the hatch, breaking a large hole in the metal.   
“I’m gonna get you~!AHAHAHA!!!” Daniel pushed back everyone while the hand scrambled to rip off the hatches hinges.   
“It’s going to get in.” Everyone looked at Daniel, and started freaking out, while getting further and further away from the hatch. Walking up to me, Daniel softly said, “Are you sure you can kill him?” One hinge was thrown to the side.  
“I might, but then again, you said he can rip people apart.” He sighed. “I’ll do it.” He looked at me, surprised. “I can’t let this place die, right?” He smiled, very relieved.  
“Tess, you can’t be serious. Roger’s been trying to kill you since you were bitten!” The second hinge was ripped away. The hand started pulling at the hatch door, trying to rip of the last hinge.  
“We don’t have time to talk about it!” I picked up my knife off the floor, where I was thrown, just as the hatch was ripped off. Sick chuckling arose from below.  
“I got you now~” Slowly, he pulled himself up. He was covered in dry and wet blood, splotched everywhere. His clothes were tattered, he smelled like rotting flesh, and had one bite mark on his upper arm. He looked around the room and his face broke out into a smile. I would of said he looked happy if it wasn’t for his eyes. He had the eyes of a madman.   
Even though I was the same size as him, I was scared. I take on kids twice my size with no fear, and this kid scares me. Then those eyes landed on me. “Oh? You’re like me, aren’t you?” I nodded, too scared to talk. “How did you get up here?”  
“I died.” His eye brows shot up, seemingly surprised.  
“New blood? Well, how do they smell? Tasty?” I shook my head. To me, they didn’t smell good at all. The smell of high school was the smell in here, plus fear, but that was coming from me too. “No? Then what smells tasty to you?” I sniffed the air, the only smell that made my mouth water was, surprisingly, the rotting smell. Finally, my fear subsided.   
I allowed the smile that touched his face grace mine, Roger and Daniel eyes widened, and I’m sure they would of backed up if their fear wasn’t keeping them still.  
“You.” The monster’s eyes opened wide. I dashed forward and tackled him. We fell onto the floor. He tried to push himself up, but I grabbed his shirt and barrel rolled. We fell into the hole and landed hard. I gripped my knife and swiped his arm, slicing deeply. He cried out.   
“Bitch! Why are you attacking me?! Our food is up there!” He swung at my face, but I jabbed his shoulder and his arm dropped. He glared at me.  
“I told you, they don’t smell tasty. They smell like hormonal teens. You smell like underdone stake.” I twisted up my face, realizing what I just said.   
“Why are you going against you nature as a Zombie?!” I smiled, grabbed his shoulder, placed my hand over his heart, and squeezed. He tried pushing me away, but I curled my hand, the tips plunging into his chest, and held him still.   
“No, no, no, we can’t have you running away, now can we?” My smile widened when I noticed the tone of my voice was like his was.  
“Stop!” I smiled even wider when I heard the fear in his voice. I curled my fingers more, grabbing his rib, and pulled. He screamed, whimpered, thrashed, and shouted at me. Taking the rib I had in my hands, I shoved it in his mouth.  
“See, you’re tasty too? Ne, I want a bite.” Pushing my fingers into the slick hole, I grasped my prize: his franticly beating heart. “I gave you first taste, so I get to choose what I want. Fair deal, don’t you think?” I squeezed his heart and his knees buckled. “Aww, you can’t hold up your own weight? Are you sleepy? Don’t worry, you’ll be asleep soon!” I started laughing, really hard. I could hear whimpering from above me, plus, the mudo around me backed up. I looked him right in his terrified eyes and yanked his heart right from his chest. For a brief second he looked right at it, then collapsed. I took a bite and threw the rest. I was happy, I wasn’t thirsty anymore, I was much more relaxed.  
“Tess?” I looked at Rem, she was shaking, and her face was white.   
“Rem? What’s wrong?” Roger stuck his head out, screamed and was gone. I looked around and saw them, mudo, against walls, and my truck. “They’re scared… of me?” Glancing down at myself, I saw all the blood. It covered the front of my shirt and all down my right sleeve. Figuring this was going to end badly, I walked back to the hatch. “Rem, I’m okay now, ask them if I can come back up and wash up.” She nodded, but Daniel shook his head.  
“You can come back up after you get rid of those things.”   
“My truck is in the way.”  
“Then move it.” Rem voice was shaking. I nodded, not wanting to scare her more by talking. I walked towards my truck and the mudo near that area scrambled away. I sighed, and climbed into the bed, and climbed in through the window. I turned the engine on and hit the gas, but it didn’t move.   
Jumping off the truck, I spun around and punched it. My hand went right into the metal, cutting my hand. I ripped it out, cussing up a frenzy. Then I looked at my hand. If I could do that by punching it, what could I do if I pushed it? I dug my feet into the ground, leaned against the truck, and pushed with all my might. It screeched and protested, but gave way, rolling forwards with momentum.   
Mudo started pouring in. I had to grab the end of the truck to make it stop, so I didn’t get a chance to stop them. They started wailing, hands towards the hatch, but I could still hear Roger over the wailing. Saying something about getting them all killed. I tried pushing the mudo out, but they wouldn’t leave. Most were completely ignoring me, one or two would look at me and go around.   
“Fuck this.” I sucked in as much air as possible, and let out a wail that roared over the rest. Everything got quite, all eyes were on me. Human and Mudo stared as I growled, “Get out of the buildings, now!”   
For a second, nothing happened, just complete silence. Then they started moving, all rushing to the door. Scrambling over one another to escape. When they were all out I closed the bent to hell steel doors, with a little force, and walked back to the hatch.  
“There out, can I come up?”  
Daniel offered his hand to me, lightly saying, “Mr. Young said he wants to see you.” I nodded and grabbed hold of his wrist, so I didn’t slip, and he lifted me back to the second floor. Everyone was watching me with fearful eyes, every movement I made, they flinched.  
“I promise, I don’t bite.” I muttered “you” softly and to my right Rem busted out laughing. Everyone started to relax a bit when she did. I just thought it sounded creepy, for her anyway. “Anyway, Daniel, you said that a Mr. Young wants to see me?” He nodded and headed towards a staircase, Rem following right behind. We passed a little girl crying next to the wall we passed. I did my best not to scare her more by looking at her.   
We were walking down a few halls towards whoever Mr. young was, I started feeling itchy. All the blood that covered my clothes started to dry and scratch my skin.   
“Hey, I need to wash off.”  
“You can do that later.” Daniel didn’t even bother to spare me a glance.   
“Oh come on! Why not?”   
“Tess, someone wants to talk to you, we shouldn’t make them late.”  
“You’re not the one covered in blood!” When I yelled the people following us raised their guns at me. I growled, scaring them back slightly.   
“Tess.” Rem’s voice was monotone, but I could still tell that she was freaking out inside. “Their aiming at you because when you raise your voice your eyes brighten up.” I yanking me away from the gunmen.   
“Oops! I didn’t mean to die!” I said it as sarcastically as possible. “Come on, let me get cleaned up! This is sickening!”  
“Hello again, monster.” Roger walked up from a side hallway, gun raised. “Why don’t you go outside with your little friends and re-die?” He chuckled, smirking to himself. I released a smirk of my own.  
“I’m happy at you at least got to take a shower. I detest the smell of piss.” Roger’s face turned bright red and his smirk fell. Rem giggled and Daniel sighed. “You’re not going to do that often, right?”  
Roger took a step forward, gun pointed at my head. Next this I notice is Rem pulling my gun out of the back of her pants, pointing it straight at him, standing in front of me.   
“You shoot her and you won’t have to worry about the mudo any longer.” She aimed it at his chest. “And I won’t miss!”   
“Enough!” An old Chinese man banged his cane on the ground to get our attention. Walking between Roger and Rem he said,` “Lower your weapons at once!” Roger lowered his quickly, while I had to forcefully take Rem’s away. The old guy looked at me and calmly said, “Follow me,” turned and walked away. He walked into a room without checking to see if we followed. We followed a second later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me how we did!


	5. It's not Mudo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No Summery

Chapter 5: It’s not Mudo  
“Sit,” that’s all he said as he walked to the other side of his desk and sit down. He gestured to the two black leather seats. This room stood out from the rest of the building. The room reminded me of a principal’s office, which made it seem like we were about to get detention. One word for in here was “pristine”; the rest of the building would be “rundown.”   
I sat on the right with Rem to my left, while Daniel and Roger leaned against the wall. The old Chinese man propped up his arms on the desk and rested his head on his hands. I squirmed in his seat waiting for him to speak.  
“Now that you are in this form, you must inform us when your hunger starts to rise. We don’t need you to cause an outbreak.” Rem jumped up, slamming her hands on his desk.   
“Didn’t your ‘guards’ tell you anything? She doesn’t eat people! She only ate a piece of that monster down stairs! Don’t any of you humans trust her?” The man shook his head.   
“We don’t trust her; we have no reason to trust her. She is still a member of the undead and could kill anyone if she tried. Now sit down so we can continue.” I grabbed Rem’s arm and tugged lightly. She glanced at me and, with a little hesitation, she sat back down. He turned to me, studying my face. “If you have any questions, I suggest you ask them now.” I sighed, figuring someone told him about the word mudo.  
“My name is Tess, tell me yours.”  
“I am called Xao Young.”  
“Are they allowed to drag people up when they were bitten?” Rem’s voice shook as she spoke, but it didn’t break.  
“Yes, I requested that if they see the person get bitten they pull them up.”  
“Why did you do that? Wouldn’t that risk the lives of everyone on the second floor?”  
“I did so because of an old wives tale that I heard in the temple as a child. It said ‘When the graves become unused a member of the dead will save the living.’ I believed in that tale when I was young and that has not changed.” Rem shook her head.  
“But even if that was a possibility, that was still too dangerous.” I tapped her arm, glaring at her lightly.  
“Rem, we’re talking about the reason I am still here. Be a little less critical and a bit more thankful, please.” Xao smiled lightly, nodding to me. I went to ask if he knew why this was happened, but didn’t get the chance. I heard people running in the hall behind in the direction of the office. I sighed and said, “Door.” Seconds later it opened up to show two winded teenagers.   
“Boss we have a problem. We need to make a trip out. The greenery on the roof isn’t pervading enough food right now and the food supplies are running low.” I giggled slightly and unfortunately I spoke before I thought about it.  
“Funny, mine is at an all time high.” Rem didn’t hesitate to slap me in the back of my head.  
“Tess, you’re helping. We need to eat and if you want, you can eat along the way.   
“What about the mudo? How will I keep everyone safe?” Mr. Young cleared his throat.  
“I believe you have that covered already, Mudo. It was quite a spectacle. I could even hear your voice from up here.” I blushed in slight shame. “I believe they respond to your voice.”   
I turned to Rem, sneaking glances at Roger. “Rem, they don’t trust me, do I have to go?” I know I was whining, but I hate being doubted.   
“Yes, you do.” She gave me the ‘this isn’t up for discussion’ glare, and I sighed. I accepted the fact I wasn’t getting a say in any of this.   
“The monster is coming with us?! Are you sure she won’t just feed us to the zombies and eat some herself?!” I turned to look at the kid who refuses to give me the benefit of the doubt, Roger. I really was starting to hate this kid.  
“Maybe just you.”Rem slapped me again, and this time I growled.   
“I’ll go too and she’ll behave, but you better behave too, or else I can feed you to the mudo.” She had a large smile of her face as she spoke, and I swear, the temperature of that entire room dropped five degrees. Roger and the kid who walked in visibly shook.   
“I said take the Mudo-” I grumbled Tess, “-and let Miss Rem tag along. They should be able to offer extra hands.” Roger vigorously shook his head.  
“Mr. Young, how do you expect us to work with it?” I jumped out of my seat and had him by the front of his shirt before he could even react.  
“I’m only going to say this once, My Fucking Name Is Tess. I expect you to use it or I’m just going to call you Mudo meat.” I dropped him and turned to Rem.   
“How about you and I just go? We can get the food and be back without anybody dying.” She paled, while her eyes widened at the thought.  
“What?! Why just me?”  
“Because I would kill Roger with a smile on my face.” I turned back towards Roger and smiled innocently, just to prove my point.   
“Stay the hell away from me!” Finally regaining the ability to move, Roger pulled out his pistol and aimed it at my face. Rem wasn’t far behind, standing in front of me with my still unloaded gun. For the life of me, I wanted to yell at her and say it was empty.   
“How many times must this happen? Shoot her and you die!” Roger backed up slightly as Rem stared him down. I started laughing and Daniel shook his head.   
Slamming his hands down on the desk, Mr. Young gained our attention once again. “Stop Acting Like Children!”   
Rem and I didn’t skip a beat, and without hesitation we both said, “We’re teenagers, what did you expect?” Roger laughed, and I mean laughed. If you can get the guy pointing a gun at you to laugh, you must be pretty damn funny. Finally he made a sorry excuse for a cover up and addressed Mr. Young.  
“No, Mr. Young, me and Daniel will grab some others and go.”   
“Daniel and I, you mean.”   
“Really? You have to be a grammar Nazi?”  
“Nazis are dead and so am I, so why not?” This time we all laughed. Our laughter brightened up the mood slightly.   
“Ugh, children and their raging hormones.” My face twisted up into that of disgust. All of us gave Xao the ‘Eww’ face. “Enough with this just get going and take some others with you.” I looked at him in the eye and realized he hadn’t said my name yet.  
“Call me by my name then.” I glanced over a Roger and he backed up slightly. “You too.”  
“Tess, assist them in finding food.” Xao said with a wave of his hand, dismissing us.   
“Fine, Tess, don’t get us killed.” I glared at him half lidded, temped to slap him. Daniel tapped Roger’s shoulder and he slowly lowered his gun, Rem followed his actions. They slowly made their way down the hallway and I waved a Xao. We were walking down the stairs when I stopped.  
“I’m still covered in blood. When am I going to be allowed to wash up and change?” The blood was dry and stiff, and I don’t even want to tell where chaffing was.   
“I’ll bring you.” Daniel tapped my shoulder and pointed behind us. “Just follow me.” He turned to Roger. “Wait for me on the second floor.”   
We left the stair well and walked down a few hallways. He pointed to the door on the right, “That’s the girl’s showers. It’s smaller than the boys because there are so few girls here. The other two doors are the weight training room and the boy’s bathroom.”   
“Thanks see you in ten.” He nodded and walked away while I entered the ladies room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me how we did~


	6. Taken Under my Wing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No Summery

Chapter 6: Taken under my wing  
When I walked down stairs I found Rem and Roger having a screaming match, guns drawn. Daniel was standing behind Roger trying to get his attention.   
I flicked my head at Roger and Daniel nodded. Slowly, Daniel approached Roger, while I closed in on Rem. Once we were behind them, we both nodded and tackled them to the ground. Both lashed out, but bother were just as quickly subdued. After holstering their weapons for them, they were released.   
Rem was on her feet the second I let her go, glaring holes in my head.   
“Daniel, what happened?”  
“I don’t know. They were like this when I got here.”  
“Fine, you two are not allowed to speak to each other with weapons out, got it?”   
“Tess! He insulted you again!” Her eyes pleaded for me to understand.   
“What do I care, I’m dead.”   
“Ha! Even the monster doesn’t care!” Daniel didn’t skip a beat; he slapped him in the back of his head, silencing him.   
“Shut up, moron.” Rem giggled so I wacked her head too.   
“Hey!” She barked out and I rolled my eyes.   
“Let go already.” I walked up to the open hole and jumped down. Rem followed right behind, sticking to my side. After a moment, Daniel and Roger dropped down a latter and climbed down.   
I looked over the area and my eyes became locked on the bloody mess. I took a hesitant step towards it. Rem grabbed my arm and pulled me towards herself. I looked at her over my shoulder and she shook her head, pulling me away. I closed my eyes and walked with Rem in the direction of the door, Roger and Daniel close behind. They were being extra vigilant.  
“Calm down, the mudo are outside.”  
“That’s easy for you to-!” I glanced over at Roger and his jaw snapped shut.   
“Oh and Mr. Young said bring some others with us. Someone go get the others.” All three scrambled up the latter and I sighed. “Rem! Get back down here! You don’t even know anyone up there!” Slowly she climbed back down, after looking around; she made a mad dash for me. “Now you two! Don’t worry; nobody is going to eat you!” Daniel dropped back down. He slowly made his way over, glancing at the surrounding area, waiting for something to pop out. Roger came down minutes later followed by two muscular boys with semi automatics.  
“Okay, now we can go.” Roger walked over as calmly as his shaking legs could take him. I pointed to the gun men.   
“You guys can’t shoot any of them, or things could get messy.”  
“What, then why are we coming?”   
“Just in case something goes wrong.”  
“What could go wrong with a hoard of hungry zombie’s right outside those doors?” Roger whispered as he moved closer to the boys with the semi automatics.   
“As long as what Mr. Young said it true, we should be fine.”  
“Then why don’t you test it first? If they attack you, he’s wrong, and we can send you alone.” I glared at the blond kid with the gun. “Well, are you going to do it?” I sighed and walked to the bent to hell doors. Cracking it open, I was spooked by a mudo standing there, looking in.   
“Back up.” Waving my hand at it, it backed up. I poked my head out and said, “Back up” a little louder. The mudo cleared twenty feet from where the door was. “This is awesome!” I leaned back in and looked at Rem. “Hey, it works! This is awesome!”   
“Good, then let’s get this over with.” Nobody moved. Everyone was sneaking glances at each other, hoping that someone else would go first so they didn’t have to. Rem sighed, “Fine, I’ll go. I love mudo any way.” She passed through the opening, glancing at me the entire time. When her foot hit the outside pavement, mudo started wailing, loud enough to be deafening. I waved the others over, and one by one everyone was standing outside with the hungry, walking dead.  
“See! They won’t come close! They’re like little followers!” I took two steps forward and spun around to face the living. “So, where are we going to go?” One of the gunmen smirked and pointed behind me.   
“Why don’t you go ask one of your little followers?” Even though he was trying to act like a smart ass, I found it to be a good idea, so I spun around back to the dead.  
“Can any of you show me where I can find some canned food? At a supermarket or something?” A small child fell after he pushed his way through the crowd. He stood slightly in front of the hord, and raised his hand?   
‘I can.’ The kid looked different than the rest. The others had this vacant look in their eyes; his had a light red color to them. His hair was blond and thick, and I don’t think it had been brushed in a while. He looked like he was seven or eight.   
I heard shifting behind me then Roger spoke up. “Is he going to attack?”  
“No, he said, ‘I can.’ Didn’t you hear him?” I saw Roger shake his head.  
“Tess, all he did was moan.” Rem leaned in, close to my ear and whispered softly, “Can you hear them talk now?”   
I slowly shook my head, listening for any others I could understand. Whispering back, “It’s only him that I can hear. The rest are moaning.” Slowly, I walked up to the child, and got down on my knee. “Can you tell be your name? Just encase I need your help again.” He shrank back, shaking like a leaf. “Will you please tell me?”  
‘Ethan.’ I smiled and reached forward and ruffled his hair. He flinched, but didn’t move away.   
“Nice to meet you Ethan, I’m Tess.” I smiled and he calmed down considerably.   
He snatched up my hand and giggled. ‘You can call me E!’ Still giggling, he pulled me backwards towards Rem and the others, causing me to trip slightly.  
Everyone was eyeing him for any sudden movements. He gripped onto my leg when he saw the guns. “Everyone, this is Ethan. He will be our guide today.” He waved causing most of them to flinch. Noticing the fear in the eyes of the living and in the eyes of the dead child attached to my leg, I picked up Ethan to calm everyone’s nerves. “Well, we might as well go.”   
Walking, everyone stayed as far away from Ethan and I as possible, but without getting too far. The mudo made a perfect circle around us and didn’t get any closer. If I felt that they were ever getting closer, I could say, “father back,” and they would move farther away. Even with all this room between us and the mudo everyone had their weapons out, even Rem, who was given bullets by Daniel.   
Rem stood behind me and waved at Ethan every time he looked at her. E just kept asking what was wrong with her, I just laughed.   
“I wonder why I can only hear your voice.” E looked up at me, confused. “Oh, I can hear your voice, but the others can’t, plus I can’t hear the other mudo voices.” His face became blank, and I realized. “Oh, Mudo are what Rem and I are calling the Zombies.” He finally got the ‘Oh, I get it now,’ face. I even heard Rem coo him for being cute.   
Daniel tapped my shoulder, asking, “Does he attack people?” I didn’t get a chance to say anything before Ethan started shaking his head violently, before yelling, ‘I Would Never! Meanie!’ He started crying, wailing like a child after being scolded, though by the reactions of everyone else, it must have been the same sound a mudo makes when it wails.   
Daniel slapped his hands against his ears and backed up, as did Roger and the others, even the other mudo. Rem covered he ears but moved closer to E and I. I rocked him while Rem was started petting his head, he calmed down to sniffles.   
“Daniel, please be a bit more kind to a child helping us.” He mumbled out a sorry and we continued.   
‘Some of us don’t attack people, but most do. My mommy wasn’t lucky like me. She attacked someone and they killed her.’   
“My mom died too, but I don’t think there would be anything left of her now.”   
“What?” I looked back at Roger and smiled weakly.  
“Trust me, you don’t need to know.” He nodded and patted my shoulder. The talking from this point stopped.   
Ethan led us to a small market with broken windows, but amazingly, the lights were still on. When I tried to walk in E pulled me back.  
‘You said we can’t go in the buildings.’  
“What do you mean?” Behind me, I heard someone ask if it was safe.  
‘You said that we can’t go into the buildings anymore.’  
“So, no one’s in there?” Ethan nodded. “Because I said not to?” He nodded again. “Cool.” I turned to the others. “No one’s in there, so it’s safe.”  
“Are you sure it’s safe?”  
“Yeah, E said nobody’s in there, so it must be safe.” I tried walking in again, but Ethan pulled me back once more.   
‘I can’t go in.’  
“My words really mean that much?” He nodded. “Okay, then Ethan, you can go into the buildings when I am with you.” He smiled and ran in through the open door.   
Walking up and down the aisles, E and I picked up a basket full of candy. We were about to pop open a bag when we heard a shout and then a shot. I took off towards the back of the store where the shot came from and found Daniel pointing a gun at an unmoving body.   
“Daniel, there shouldn’t be anyone in here. Where’d he come from?”  
“I opened the storage room door and he stumbled out.” The others ran appeared out of the other aisles, guns drawn. Still wary of the newcomers, I held Ethan behind me.   
“Tess.” I looked up at Roger, who pointed at the body. “It would make everyone feel better if you could remove it.” I groaned and handed the basket of candy to Ethan.   
“Ethan, stay with Rem for a minute.” Grabbing the dead mudo’s leg, I dragged it outside, and threw it towards the mudo. They started eating the dude. I shook off the thought of taking a bite, and went back in.  
I found E standing alone at the back of the store next to the storage room and noticed the frozen foods in front of him. There was a line of fridges full with different kinds of frozen meats. “I wonder if they’re any good?” I opened the fridge and pulled some out and sniffed it. I could only smell the frost, so I wasn’t sure about it.   
“Hey, Rem, come here for a second.” She walked out from a side aisle.   
“Something wrong?” She glanced at the package of stake in my hands, took it, and looked it over. “Still looks good, take some with us.”  
“What about E?” She looked at Ethan, spun around and walked towards the checkout counter. “Hey, where are you going?” She ducked down behind the counter and pulled out a mini-oven. “Oh, I get it.” Rem walked away towards the frozen foods section as we tossed some of the meat in the oven. It dinged minutes later. When I opened it, I noticed E’s eyes. They started to glowing a light red.   
“Hey E, what color are your eyes?”  
‘Blue, why?’ I kneeled down to his eye level and closed my eyes.  
“What color are my eyes E?” He looked up at me and I opened them, he gasped.   
‘Glowing! Cool! How’d ya do that!?’ I giggled lightly and smirked.  
“Your eyes are doing it too. I think it’s because we’re hungry.” I pulled out the stakes and handed one to him and took one myself. “Bon appétit.“  
We were walking down the aisles, munching on the raw meat, throwing random things in a basket. Roger walked from a side aisle when he caught sight of us. The blood drained from his face and he screamed. He took off back down the aisle.  
The two gunmen appeared at my right and trained their weapons on me. I grabbed Ethan’s arm and forced him behind me.   
“Who Screamed and Why?!” Trying to defuse the tension, I backed up slightly, and tried to explain.  
“Roger just got spooked, that’s all.” Both of them flinched and readied their weapons. E pulled on my pants, and when I glanced at him, he pointed at his eyes. “My eyes are red because I’m eating, I’m not going to harm you.”   
“What the hell are you eating?!”   
“Steak we found in the fridge.” They must have not believed us because they stepped forward, ready to fire. Luckily, Rem stepped from an aisle behind them, gun drawn, with Roger and Daniel in tow.   
“Everyone’s fine, so there’s no reason to shoot.” Calmly, everyone listened to Daniel. It made me a bit curious as of why they do.  
“Good, now let’s get going.” Daniel dropped a bag in front of me. I turned and picked up Ethan, making sure he had a good grip on his candy basket, and heaved the bag over my shoulder. Of course they gave me a heavy one. Let’s give the heavy bag to the dead girl, she’s strong enough to rip a body up, this wouldn’t make her tired. Jerks.  
As we made our way back, they were even farther away than before, but then again, lagging behind was out of the question considering the mudo were still reaching for them. We got half way there before Rem said she was tired and made me carry her bag. I was stuck holding two heavy bags and a child. When did I become the mule?


	7. New Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No Summery

Chapter 7: New Faces  
Three days have passed since I had died and survived death. During the time I have become like a surrogate mother for Ethan, and since I didn’t want him sleeping outside somewhere, I set up a room for him on the first floor. I even walked to a supermarket I found close by, brought him back toys and a backpack, and rounded up as many blankets as I could find and made him a bed.   
I also have guard duty on the first floor. The watch guys thought it would be a good idea, I just hate it. During the day I help fix the place up and clean, and at night I have to stay up and make sure the mudo stay out. I haven’t slept at all in that time. Every time I try to sleep, they need me for something. It’s so irritating!   
Fortunately, I got to tell Xao that I could talk to Ethan, and I was keeping him on the first floor. He argued for a minute, but I told him flat out, I was not leaving the kid to walk around outside. Reluctantly, he agreed.   
Xao was trying to tell me something, but someone walked in and said they wanted me to stand guard while some of adults switch generators. I haven’t been able to talk to him since then.   
Rem flowed into life as one of the cooks, and so far, I’ve seen her barking orders on what they were making that day. I will say one thing; she looks completely in her element when she’s in charge.  
I’ve finally got Roger to wave at me. He really won’t stay near me alone, but he will talk to me, but he is a bit skittish. Though, I haven’t seen Daniel at all. Not even passing by in the hall, which is odd because this is only a four story building, and you can’t even use all the rooms because there’s remodeling going on.   
For right now, everything seems to have settled down, except for the fact that I need to sleep. Though, I was happy with myself. With all the running around they made me do, I’ve figured out where everything important is.   
On the first floor is where all the electrical panels, the electrical room, and E, is. On the second is where all the guys with the big heavy guns are usually at. They would always have around the clock watches, keeping an eye on the hatch, main reason why I told E to stay away from it. On the third floor are rooms for food storage and the huge kitchen. I heard that a lot of remodeling was being done before the mudo hit. On the top floor are Xao’s office, bedrooms, a large living room, showers, and oddly enough, a training room. It always makes me wonder what this building was being reconstructed for.  
Sitting on the roof, after I’d given up trying to sleep, I got bored and decided to find Rem, and see if she wanted to play. I found her on the third floor with a few pounds of raw chopped up beef in front of her, and I must admit it smelled good. I tapped her back and she jumped. She had a knife and she whipped around and started lecturing me.  
“You of all people should know not to sneak up on me! Man, ever since the ‘incident’ I haven’t been able to hear you walk up behind me anymore!” She shook her head, sighing. “Anyway, wha’cha need? Want something to eat?” I shook my head.  
“Nah, I wanna hang out or something. Ever since we got here, I haven’t even had a conversation with you.” She placed down her knife and turned to look at me.   
“Okay then, what do you want to do?” I shrugged my shoulders.  
“I don’t know.”  
“Then come back when you do. Because right now we have to cook for 35 people including you and Ethan, and we’re behind as it is!” She pushed me out of the kitchen and closed the door behind me. I shouted at her though the door.  
“Fine, I’ll go outside and play with E!” I turned to walk away, but looked back to shout, “And I didn’t get a piece of meat!”   
Heading down to the first floor, I was stopped by the soldier guarding the hatch. “What, finally decide to leave and never come back?”  
“Wow, really, I thought my being here made your lives easier. Should I flood the first floor with starving Mudo?”He flinched and backed up a few steps away from the hatch and I. “That’s what I thought.” Glaring at him coldly enough to make him shake, I jumped downstairs.   
Ethan wasn’t in his room, not anywhere else on the first floor. After searching the entire floor I walked outside and spotted him walking towards the building. When he noticed me, he ran straight for my arms, and I twirled him around.  
‘Guess what! Someone came into the city and they can talk! Wanna go?” I nodded and helped him climb on my back.  
“Which way are they?” He pointed to my left and I started running. I noticed that a bunch of mudo were headed in the same direction. “Hey E, are they dead or alive?”  
‘Dunno, I heard someone say it.” I skidded to a stop. E gripped onto my shirt and started to shake lightly.  
“You heard someone say it? You can hear them?” He nodded into my back. “All of them?” He nodded again, and I started running again. “That’s good to know.”  
I stopped asking Ethan where to go and just followed the horde. We ended up having to push our way to the same supermarket I bring people to when they need to collect. There was a living kid on the roof of the supermarket. He had dark brunette hair and was wearing all black. He was swinging around a bloody AK-47. Everyone was reaching out, trying to grab him.   
“HEY!” He flinch at my shout, and started scanning the horde, not seeing me. “Down here!” He glanced down at Ethan and I, and E waved.   
“Get up here before they kill you!” I handed Ethan to the kid then he offered his hand to help me, but I had to swat it away because everyone was still trying to pull him down. I climbed up high enough to grab his hand without the others getting him and he pulled me up the rest of the way.   
He flopped down on his butt, out of breath. I muttered out thanks. Ethan crawled back onto my lap and smiled at the kid.  
“Hey, how come they didn’t attack you?” I sighed and held Ethan closer.  
“Because, ah, well… I’m like them.” He froze. “I’m like them, but at the same time, not like them. I won’t hurt you and neither will Ethan. Ain’t that right, E?” E looked up at me and nodded. The brunette kid relaxed slightly.   
“You’re not going to attack me?” I shook my head and so did Ethan.  
“I don’t eat humans, I eat mudo.” His head flicked slightly to the side like a dog does when it’s confused.  
“Mudo?” I laughed.  
“It’s what a friend and I have been calling the zombies.” He nodded, and then pointed at E.  
“Is he a mudo too?” I nodded. “Is he the friend you were talking about?” I shook my head.  
“No, my other friends are older.”   
“So, what do you eat?”   
“Them.” I pointed at the mudo and they became louder.  
He laughed a bit nervously. “What does the little guy eat?”  
“Well, I give him candy.” E whispered in my ear that is was fine because he wasn’t a growing boy anyway.   
“Uh, well are there any, uh, humans nearby? I was trying to get to an abandoned building I heard about on the radio. Know where it is?” E started smiling and nodding before I could. “So you know little guy? Where is it?” E’s smile fell and he looked away. The kid brunette looked up at me and pointed at Ethan.  
“Ah, you wouldn’t be able to understand Ethan even if he tried to tell you.” The brunette reached forward and ruffled Ethan’s hair.   
“Man! Fine, anyway, I’m Nathan.” He offered his hand to me and I accepted it.   
“I’m Tess and this little guy is Ethan.” The mudo started to get louder the longer I sat here.   
“Do you know where the building is?”   
“Of course I do. Ethan and I live there.”   
“Why didn’t you tell me?!” He yelled over the mudo because the mudo at this point were almost wailing.   
“You asked E before I could!” Trying to yell over the mudo made them even louder.   
“Where are they!?” I could barely hear him over the mudo.  
“A Mile Up That Way!” I pointed in the direction of the building, thinking that he couldn’t hear me anymore.  
“I’ll never make it!” He pointed at the mudo and shouted again, but I couldn’t hear him. I growled and turned to the mudo.  
“QUIET!“ You could hear a loud audible click from the jaws of the mudo snapping shut from my command. “I didn’t hear the last part, can you-?” He was up on his feet, pointing at me, while glancing at the mudo every few seconds.   
“Do you…? Do you control them?” I nodded.  
“Yeah, it happened when I killed the psycho mudo running around. If you had gone in a building you would have been safe. They don’t go in them because I said so.”   
“Wish I knew that before!” His hand gripped his AK-47 and I jumped on him, forcing him to lie on his back.  
“Point that toy at me and I’ll feed you to them.” He released is weapon and his hands flew over his head.   
“I wasn’t! I was getting ready to go! I thought you would take me to the building.”  
“Oh… Okay, all you had to do was ask.” I let out a nervous laugh. I got off of him and walked to the edge of the building. I turned back to smirk at him and said, “Scatter.” They took off running. I smiled again, enjoying boasting about what I can do, and the “Awesome” that flew out his mouth made it all the more better. “Are you ready to go now?”   
“Yeah.” Ethan giggled at him for starring at me as he followed us down. Heading back was a quiet trip of few questions and too much moaning from the dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me how we did


	8. New Changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking, well, we’re waiting for a tow truck, might as well type up the chapter I have been putting off.  
> Also, before anyone says it, yes, this time it was short. I hate writers block!

I was thinking, well, we’re waiting for a tow truck, might as well type up the chapter I have been putting off.  
And before anyone says it, yes, this time it was short. I hate writers block!  
New Changes  
I had Nathan stay down stairs until I told Mr. Young he was here. He said bring him up and people started telling me I did the right thing, though some started to twist it into an insult. The only one who seemed aggravated was Rem. I cornered her in the kitchen and tried to ask her what the hell was wrong and she jumped down my throat.   
“We have enough people to feed and you bring back another?!” I flared up and growled causing her to flinch.  
“You’re acting like you want me to feed him to the mudo!” The anger slipped off her face and a mask of shame appeared.   
“I… I’m sorry; I’m just tired of cooking is all. I didn’t mean to come off that way.” She scratched the back of her, avoiding looking at me. “Anyway, ifs late, are you going on duty today too?” I sighed just thinking about it.  
“Yeah, and I still wish I didn’t, I’m tired and I want to sleep.”   
“Yeah, but they’ll get rid of you if you don’t.”   
“Yeah, you’re in the clear since you feed them.”   
“So? Well, if you get tired, just come up stairs and go to bed. They have no right to bitch.” I nodded; glad she saw things my way.  
“I will, but I still have to send Ethan to bed and stay up as long as I can.” She nodded her head and we parted ways.  
After I put Ethan to bed and I sat at my post, I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. It was already past midnight and I was exhausted. My body was starting to hurt all over, and I knew going up the hatch would get me in trouble, so I headed outside to find another way in. I did, mainly because the storm drain is screwed into the side of the building and I could easily stick my fingers behind it and pull myself up to the fourth floor where the bedding is.  
Forcing open the far side fourth floor window, I climbed in and stumbled for the girls sleeping section. Finding Rem and her bed, I climbed in and curled up near her legs, passing out as soon as I got comfortable.   
I wasn’t even asleep for an hour before the first bolt of pain rippled though my body. I let out a yelp causing Rem to stir for a second. Another ripple rang though me and my yelp finally got Rem to sit up. She took one look at me and all the blood drained from her face.  
Others started to stir and run around too. I mean with all the “noise” I was making, who wouldn’t. From the corner of my eyes I saw a dozen or so soldiers burst thought the door, not sparing a seconding, sights set on me. I barely noted Roger pointing a hand gun at my head.   
“Don’t!” Rem must have hit the gun because a second later the gun clattering on the ground causing pain to discharge from my ears. I screamed, silencing all movement and noise.   
“Rem!” I screamed her name in complete agony. Another agonizing bolt of pain later caused my back arched in response. My eyes were beyond tears. There was no way the stinging in my eyes were tears, but at the time, I was in too much pain to figure out what it really was.   
The pain extended to all corners of my body, as my eyes rolled back into my head. Rem kept calling my name, but I was no longer able to respond. All I could do was scream. I tried my damnedest to stop screaming, but I was unable to stop.   
“Someone get me a towel! I can’t stop all the bleeding!” Hearing Rem yell that made me terrified of what was going on. Someone grabbed my head and forced it to the right, discharging pain from my neck to the base of my spine.   
A wail, a mudo’s piercing wail escaped my throat, thought it didn’t make the person holding my head let go. “Look at her eyes! They won’t stop bleeding.” Roger’s calm voice surprised me, I was sure he tried to shoot me a minute ago.   
“Get away from her! You don’t know what she may do!” The taste of copper invaded my system, and I started to choke. More people started flooding around me, but to my surprise they were faces I knew, trying to help me to breath, not harm me. A whisper lightly grabbed my attention, “Mr. Young?” and soft relief.   
Slowly the pain slipped away, becoming a dull roar. I could feel something warm as I closed my eyes. It wasn’t touching me, but I could still feel heat flood from it. I heard Rem beg someone if I was okay, and as I slipped away, a hand, which was larger than Rem’s ever could be, pet my head as I slipped away.


	9. New life

This chapter had to be split in half because it was getting too long for me. About another 500 words or so need to be written for the next chapter, then I can post that too…   
New life

 

I felt movement to my left, and then noticed something twitched. I forced my eyes to blink open, and I turned slightly to see Ethan cuddling up to my side, gripping my arm. I sprung straight up. Pain roared in my back, but over the worry of Ethan, it was ignored.  
“E! What are you doing here?!” I scooped him up and pulled him close to me. I was so focused on Ethan I didn’t even notice the door had open and someone came in until they cleared their throat. I jumped and smothered Ethan even closer than before.  
“Tess, be calm, we know he is here already. He snuck in late at night and was noticed by Daniel.” Mr. Young was sat down on the edge of the bed I was currently on. He laid a large staff of some sort onto the bed, next to my legs. I ignored it over the pressing matter.  
“If they try hurting him, so help me, I’ll kill ‘em.” Xao shook his head, finally giving me the chance to release the breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Thank god.” I fell backwards on to my bed while I still held Ethan to my chest.   
‘Mama, are you okay?’ If words could heal, I was perfect. I resorted to cuddling him as close as I could.  
“Yeah, you’re Mama’s okay.” He smiled greatly at my returned response.  
“Tess!” I turn to see Rem at the door, tears prickled on her eyes. “You’re awake!” Bolting to the bed, she didn’t hesitate when she jump on to smother us. “The mudo were quiet again, so I knew you-!”  
‘Rem! That HURTS!!!’ Ethan’s screech caused Rem to jump a foot off the bed. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you…’  
“Rem, he said he was sorry.” Rem waved her hands madly, spouting something about it was ‘nothing’ and that he shouldn’t apologize.  
“Children, may we return back to the matters at hand?” Xao’s voice had boomed over Rem’s spastic voice, which had immediately silenced her. “Tess, I understand if you have questions.”  
I had sheepishly nodded my head. “Yeah, I have questions. I wanna know what happened to me. Why was I in so much pain?” Xao sighed, and sucked in a breath.  
“I am not completely sure if this is the reason, but I believe your body started to reject your humanity. In turn, you would have lost your voice.”  
My head click to the side, not quite understanding where he was getting at. “My Voice?” E tugged on my shirt, so I sat up, and fixed him on my lap.   
‘I lost mine too, but that happened when mama bit me.’ His eyes watered slightly and I cuddled him. After a minute, I put him on my left side, but made sure to still be holding him tightly.   
“Miss Tess.” I looked back up at Xao. “I used these to stop the descent into death.” He picked up the object I had, at the time, believed to be a staff, off of the bed and handed it to me, as well as a small dagger that he placed on my lap.   
After I grasped the long staff, I quickly realized it was a sword, in a black satin cover, that seemed to shiver as it moved.   
I slowly removed the satin covering of the sword, and quickly noted the air around the sword seemed to pulse. Ethan, apparently also felt the comfort from the pulse as I was because he moved closer. As for the sword, the pulse can be considered the least beautiful thing about it. The sword, including the sheath, is completely midnight back. The sheath is covered in black roses and thin rose vines. The hilt was a skeletal hand gripping an onyx carved skull at the bottom of the hilt.   
I glanced down at the dagger and noted all the similar details, minus the color. I had quickly put the smaller blade out of my mind to focus on the sword.  
I gently removed the sheath and all occupants in the room gasped. Its pure black blade and a barely noticeable shimmer grabbed everyone’s attention. “Tess… You’re eyes are glowing.” I glanced up at Rem and smiled.   
I couldn’t think of anything to say in regards to the blade. My line of sight was soon transfixed. So much so that I failed to notice Ethan had picked up the small dagger from my lap until I heard his little gasp.   
“Ethan, I don’t think little kids should be playing with that. Can you give it back to your Mama?” Ethan vigorously shook his head, smothering the sheathed dagger in his grasp.  
“But… It’s just like yours! Can’t I keep it? Please?” He was looking up at me, giving me puppy dog eyes and I broke.  
“Well, as long as you don’t pretend it’s a toy.” I turned to Xao, “Do you think Ethan could…?” Rem and Xao’s attention was solely fixed on Ethan. “Why are you guys staring at E?” Neither of them said anything, nor did they move.   
“Did I do something wrong?” Ethan started to tear up. “I’m sorry!” Only a single wail rippled out of E’s mouth before Rem reacted. She had him scooped up in her arms, immediately in “Mother” mode.   
“Shhh, sweetie, you didn’t do anything wrong. Uncle Xao and I were just surprised.” Ethan’s crying became light sniffling.   
“Really?” Ethan looked up at Rem with hopeful eyes.  
“Yes, really.” As Rem and Ethan laughed quietly to themselves, it dawned on me.   
“How did you know that?” Rem turned to me and smiled. “Don’t just smile, speak.”  
“I can hear him.” Ethan and I both shared the same expression for a quarter of a second, deadpan confused. At least, until smiles broke out on our face and Ethan started cheering.   
“That was unexpected. The child can speak.” For some reason this struck a chord of irritation with me.  
“Of course he can speak. What, did you think I was crazy?” Xao nodded and I flung my pillow at him.   
“Xao, maybe you can explain what is going on before Tess decides to smother you with a pillow?” Xao glanced at me and must have realized I really was ready to smother him.   
“Ah, yes, let us start with the name then. Young Ethan, the blade you currently hold in your possess is called Tenzin. Miss Tess, you are now the master of Tenso.”  
“Tenso?” I questioned.   
“Tenzin?” E followed.  
“Okay, now can you explain what’s going on?” Xao cleared his throat to answer Rem’s question, but a knock on the door interrupted him. Rem sighed, but walked to the door and opened it. Roger looked sheepishly as he stood outside the door.   
“Um, the other zombies got quiet, so I came up to check up on the mudo.” He blinked before he started waving rapidly, apologizing. “I mean, Tess and Ethan!” Ethan struggled out of Rem’s grip, grasped Roger’s hand, and pulled him towards me. When Ethan let go of Roger, he looked at his hand in slight fear. Rem and I laughed when we realized he was spooked.  
“E, you scared Roger!” Ethan spun around, and saw Roger shaking.  
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to scare you.” Ethan smiled ever so kindly, even tilting his head to the side. All of this had gone unnoticed to Roger as his mouth had become slack.   
“Did… did you just talk?” His knees buckled and he fell forward and landed on his bottom. “Oh shit, I can hear you!” His eyes had become wide and scared. He covered his ears, and practically cried out, “No. no, no, only the dead can hear Ethan. I Didn’t Hear Anything!” It took Xao nearly a minute to get Roger calm enough to remove his hands from his ears.   
“Be calm, you are not the only human to hear his voice. Everything is fine.” He helped Roger stand, and while Roger dusted himself off, Xao had turned back to me. “I’ll continue with my explanation.”   
Xao gestured to my sword. “Tenso is the cursed sword, containing the soul of the dead and shouldn’t be in the hands of anything living. It will kill any human who grasps the handle.” Almost immediately, Rem and Roger took two steps back, away from the sword. “Tenzin is similar, but of a smaller scale. The abilities are the same but in a weaker form. The main difference between the two weapons is the speed in which it will kill the host human holding it. The differences in abilities lie in the gem stones. Tenzin contains stones that are soul blue in comparison to Tenso’s onyx gems. While Tenso will kill the human as soon as the sword is released, Tenzin will allow the user to remain in contact with it until Twilight is reached. If the user is still wielding the weapon, the user will die when the dagger is released.” Ethan didn’t waste a beat to put the knife down in front of him, and scoot away from it.   
“Ethan, you’re not going to die, you’re already dead.” Roger had regretted every word as soon as he finished talking. When he saw the tears that had begin to form E’s face.  
“Roger! What the hell man!?” Rem rushed forward, clearly avoiding the sword, picked up Ethan, and swiped up the dagger, immediately handing it to Ethan. “Don’t say unnecessary things!” Ethan didn’t make a single sound as he cried, which was soon stopped by Rem’s rocking.   
“Tess.” We all focused our attention back to Xao. “You’re sword craves the death outside.” He looked past me, and didn’t seem to be looking at anything but his memories. “In ancient times, Tenso was used to defend our lands, and the user was killed soon after. The Master had foretold the rise of those who passed on, and requested that the sword be given to the ‘One who Survived Death.’ In doing so, the Master is hoping to right his wrong.” Rem, Roger, and I all glanced at each other. We all thought the same thing, and none of us wanted to say anything, but none of us expected the child to notice too.  
“What do you mean ‘right his wrong,’ what did he do wrong?” Ethan, generally curious of what he meant, casually asked the question we all dreaded to ask. Keeping my head down and focusing on the hem of my shirt, I asked what had to be confirmed.   
“Xao, you said that the user of the sword had to be killed after it was used.” Still ignoring everyone in the room, I picked up Tenso and held it out right in front of me. “Did this sword cause this Apocalypse?” I heard Rem gasp, but I didn’t noticing my voice, so I figured he nodded. “Why?! I thought you killed the user!”  
“An American stole it under the Master nose. I came here a year ago in order to find it. ” A sigh came from Xao before he continued. “I happened to come across it a month ago and believed that the theft of the blade had no ill effects. Unfortunately, a person had already succumbed to the blade.” He looked me straight in the eye, and spoke in a full voice. “This Apocalypse isn’t completely my Master’s fault.” Rem and I settled down slightly, but Ethan and Roger were in a complete state of shock. “I had this build-”   
BANG!  
Everyone’s head swung to the, now open, door.   
“Why The Fuck Didn’t You Destroy That Cursed Sword?! That Would Have Stopped All of This BEFORE it Happened!” Daniel stood in the doorway, shaking in rage, with his hands tightly curled into fists. The smell of blood caught my attention, and when I glanced at his hands, I realized he drove his nails into his palms. “If you had destroyed them before hand no one would have died!” I tossed the blade on the bed, flung off the covers, and bolted to Daniel, just as he turned to run off. Grabbing both his arm and the doorframe, I jerked him back.   
“Daniel, no use getting mad now, it already happened!” I gripped on his shirt, just as my knees gave out from under me, causing both of us to crumple to the floor. “How do you think the rest of us feel? How do you think I feel? Unlike the rest of you, I’m dead. You all still have a future; mine died when the first zombie sunk its teeth in my neck.” My voice cracked, and I felt tears well up in my eyes. Daniel tried to drag me to my feet, but I was unable to support my own weight.   
“Hey… Get up.” He tried to pull me up again, but I still couldn’t stand.  
“I can’t you idiot. Do you know how much pain I’ve been in?” Roger, breaking out of his shock, walked over to Daniel and me, and helped Daniel pick me up. Together, they brought me back to my bed and helped me get settled again, but were careful enough to avoid the sword. Sheepishly, I mumbled, “Thank you.” Daniel turned to leave again, but this time was stopped by Xao reaching out and grabbing his shoulder.   
“I know asking this will be asking for a lot, but this needs not to be talked about. Order must be kept if we are to survive.” I could both hear and see Daniel grit his teeth.   
“Why should I? Why should we protect you?!” Rem dropped Ethan onto my bed, got right in Daniel’s face, and slapped him. Daniel didn’t even get a chance to react before Rem started talking, exceedingly calm as she did so.  
“Tess has the sword, and if you start anything that gets my best friends killed, I will murder you with the same blade you hate so much.” Now you have to understand, Daniel has almost six inches on Rem, and her threat made him go pale. “I am just as pissed that all this damn shit happened, but I will not lose the last thing I have left to your naivety. We need both Xao and Tess to live now. If you say anything the first two to die will be the ones we need the most.” Daniel forced his eyes away, grumbling under his breath that he understood. “Thank you.” E timidly raised his hand. “Yes?”   
“What about me? Am I safe?” Daniel’s eyes widened a quarter of an inch. Slowly, kneeling down in front of Ethan, Daniel smiled softly.  
“I won’t say anything, so you don’t have to worry little guy.” He held his smile that quickly turned forced, and turned back to Rem, his face at a point where the word pale doesn’t even start to describe. “I’m didn’t finally lose my mind, right?” Everyone chuckled softly, and I was the first to speak.   
“It’s that small dagger in his hand, kind of fits him. It returned his voice, according to Xao anyway.” E held out Tenzin and, in turn, I held out Tenso. “His dagger is Tenzin, my sword is Tenso.” Daniel examined Tenzin using Ethan’s hands. “I’m guessing you heard most of what Xao said, huh?” He shook his head as an answered to my question, and turned to say something, but a soft knock at the door stopped him. Nathan waved when all eyes landed on him.   
“I passed David in the hall and he told me Tess was waking up. I wanted to know if she was alright, and I guess she is.” He scratched the side of his head. “Um, I was asked to find Mr. Young.” He straightened himself out and looked Xao right in the eye and whispered out, “And I won’t tell anyone what I heard.” Mr. Young’s eyes widened, and he gasped.   
“Did anyone else hear?” Nathan shook his head, and Xao relaxed slightly. “Nathan, did they happen to tell you what they wanted?” Nathan shook his head again.  
“No, sir, I wasn’t told. They just told me they would be waiting in your office.” Mr. Young nodded, stood up, bowed to both Daniel and I, and left, shutting the door behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos make me happy!


End file.
